Biotic Wind
by GethHunter
Summary: N, a 14 year old girl,has been living on the uncharted planet Karoshál for 7 years,but all that is about to change when she meets Commander Shepard...Can he help her uncover her past?  Rated M for Violence and some Language.
1. Prologue

Biotic Wind

How does one describe Biotics? It varies from person to person. Does it start at the back of your skull, then travel through your body? Or does it send a sharp pain shooting up your spine? What about those on the receiving end? Does it snap their spine in two, or rip them apart at the molecular level? 14 year old N didn't know, nor did she care. She just knew that if she concentrated hard enough, she could make objects levitate. She did it often in her room. When she rested, her bed, her books, herself, they all started to float. And if any varren or klixen decided to interrupt, they would find themselves sucked into a Singularity from which they would never return. N called her bunker her room. It protected her from the intense heat of the system's twin stars. The MSS Vanikiro had crashed on the planet 7 years ago, with her on board. It was transporting a cargo of Eezo into the Terminus, when the drive core overloaded and sent the whole ship crashing into the dust planet. Her parents were both killed, as with everyone else on board. The Council never bothered with a search. There was no way anyone could survive the engine blast, never mind the impact. But N never knew that. She just knew that she was different.

One day she decided to go out and search for what would probably be more scrap metal. She summoned her biotics and formed a shield around her body. Any widlife would disentegrate if they were stupid enough to go near the buzzing creature. Stepping out of the bunker, she felt the heat blast her like a hairdryer. The varren were... different... here. Probably strengthened by the Element Zero from the ship. She had heard of an incident like this that happened 200 years ago on Earth. Chery Nobel. Everybody became super beings or something. She pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind for now, and concentrated on any metal poking out of the ground. Climbing over a dune of red dust, she thought she spotted something in the distance, half buried in the ground. It was a cylinder shape, with portholes and...

_An escape pod!_

She leaped over the cliff and hovered down to the ground, then sprinted over to the shuttle. Just then she felt a rumble under the ground. She knew what it was from experience, but tried to kid herself.

_Ther've been earthquakes here before, right?_

Wrong.

A full grown Thresher Maw burst out of the ground, sending shockwaves around the valley. It reared up its top half like a wolf saluting the moon, then spat a few gallons worth of acid at N. She dived to one side, then considered her options. She could trap the Maw in stasis, then make a run for it, but she still needed the escape pod. Then she saw a plate a ship armour poking out from the ground.

Seizing the plate in a Biotic field, she conjured an image of another humongous Maw using her barrier. The real maw reared back and gave a shrill yowl, then attempted to dive underground. But it could not escape the sheet of steel. It sliced through its neck, carrying tonnes of blood and flesh with it. The gigantic worm spasmed for a few seconds then fell 4ft away from the girl's nose, covering her in organs. She flicked her hair and patted down her homemade ( well, bunkermade ) jumpsuit, then walked towards the Pod. She opened the door, threw away the skeletons, settled into the cockpit chair and turned on the navigation system.

_''System check recommended''_ announced a tinny voice.

_''Not likely''_ thought N.


	2. I'm Commander Shepard

Biotic Wind  
>Chapter 1<br>I'm Commander Shepard...

'Great, I'll just work it into our advertisements right away!' beamed the shop's customer service assistant, tapping a few commands into the electronic kiosk. The hero of the citadel strode towards the fast transit system on the mammoth space station, when a young voice called out his name.

'Commander Shepard, I heard you were recruiting.'

John looked towards the source of the voice, which was, of course, N, leaning against a wall in a dark corner. He rolled his eyes then turned around, only to find pale blue eyes with streaks of purple staring into his.

' I've got Biotics. Good ones!'

A smile tugged at John's mouth, as he remembered a trick he'd used on Conrad Verner, and that would more than likely scare this kid away. He drew out his pistol, shoved N into a wall and rammed the gun under her chin.

'This is what I go through every day! This is what it feels like to have a gun in your face! You can't handle thi...

He stopped talking because his pistol was now a square chunk of metal. He stared in disbelief at the worthless block in his hand for a few seconds, then turned his attention to N, whose eyes were blazing with blue, unnatural light. She cocked her head, and the cube flew through the chest of an unfortunate young lad who was trying to nick Miranda's gun. He spluttered for a few seconds, then collapsed. Things cracked. Not the floor. Shepard stood back as N walked over to the thief. She investigated his wounds for a few moments, then splayed her hand out over the youth. His back arched as his blood was replaced by a concoction of Biotics, and his skin stretched over the perfectly square wound. The last sparks danced across his chest, sank in to heal the boy. He then fell back, knocking his head again on the concrete.

' He'll be fine. Only live to 40, sure, but will still be able to walk and talk.'

The crew stared.

' What do you think, pretty good for a teenager, huh?'

The crew stared.

' Well, unless you want this source of mayhem spreading out to the far reaches of the galaxy, I'll just be going...'

Mordin dashed over to her, obviously extremely interested in this new specimen.

' Biotics used for celluar regenerating, such a young age, no signs of fatigue, no implants visible. Requires extreme exposure to Element Zero over a long period of time, Council unaware..'

Mordin breathed in heavily.

' Vanikiro?' he asked eventually.

N turned around, with the feeling of triumph spread across her soft face.

' I'll explain it all at your ship.'

**I know that this chapter is short, but I will be uploading chapters frequently, so that there are not mammoth gaps between posts. And thank you for taking the time to read this, my first Fan Fic.**

**( Uses biotics to drag arrow over to Favourite Button...)**


	3. Welcome To The Normandy

Biotic Wind  
>Chapter 2<br>Welcome To The Normandy.  
><strong>Forgot about this: I don't own Mass Effect. If I did you would be able to plug out EDI.<strong>  
><strong>Thanks to Leige Lord and Stilphyell for being such consistent reviewers!<strong>

'Quite an impressive ship you have, Shepard.' commented N as they walked down the long corridor to the CIC.  
>'It's a prototype, one of a kind' replied Shepard, then stopped. 'Crap, I shouldn't have said that.'<br>N smiled as she was led to the debriefing room. The whole crew was there. They regarded her with expressions half-way between admiration and fear. She noticed this and reassured them.  
>' Don't worry. I'm not going to blow a pressure plate.'<br>Miranda snapped out of it and scowled at the Commander.  
>' Shepard, do you know what your doing? We could all be microscopic slush in a minute because of that bomb of hormones and Biotics!'<br>John scowled back. ' That bomb you're talking about could be our only way to stop the Collectors, and the Reapers! You're suggesting that we just dump her on some godforsaken hellhole and forget about her?'  
>'No, just bring her back to the Citadel and give her some credits. You're endangering the Normandy by having her on board right now!'<br>'We can train her, to control herself, to become a warrior.'  
>Thane spoke up. 'That is, if she desires to.'<br>Everybody looked at N.  
>'Warrior? Where do I sign up?'<br>

Shepard woke early the next cycle after a sleepless rest period. He got up, strapped his armour on and made his way to the lift.

'EDI, where is N?'

'In the tech lab, being tested on by Mordin.'

'God damn Salarian ba-' he muttered as the doors closed.

When he got to the lab, a flaming plastic mannequin flew out. The left side of the torso was missing. Cursing to himself again he stepped in cautiously.

' Excellent!' exclaimed Mordin, ' but try harder to concentrate on the mechs and not me during the next test!'

The normally spotless lab was littered by obliterated Mech remains. One was screaming 'CAKE' over and over. John suppressed the rage he was feeling, then turned to Mordin, who was behind a steel wall with a glass observation slit, that looked like it would shatter if you blew on it. The Salarian genius noticed him, then stepped out.

' Do not worry. All mechs were faulty when I took them on board. She has quite an ability!'

John turned his attention to N, who was levitating in the middle of the room, her blazing eyes closed in concentration. She opened them and the natural playfulness returned to her face. She floated down, then appeared in front of Shepard, leaving a blur where she was. He jumped back in suprise.

'Turns out that I'm a Vandept!' she beamed happily. 'Did you want to see me?'

He motioned for her to follow. He led her down to the mess hall. Rupert widened his eyes, then tried to get out without attracting attention. He failed.

' People are scared of me Shepard. I don't feel welcome.' N said quietly as she settled down into her seat ( Leather Seats!).

' They're just worried about housing an Eezo bomb. Don't mind them.'

There was a short silence as neither one of them knew how to continue the conversation. Eventually John sat forward.

' Why do you call yourself N?' he asked.

' The blast knocked me on my head. I lost a lot of memories. Even my name. All I knew was that it began with N.' She stared into space, as if trying to unlock lost memories.

'Do you remember any family?'

'I think I was adopted. No wait, I grew up on Earth. No... I...' she said, the frustration slipping into her voice. The seats rumbled slightly.

' I'm sorry. It's whenever I think about this I get angry and...I don't know' her voice sunk.

' Can I get some rest, I feel...' her voice trailed off. She left her seat and walked towards the lift, leaving Shepard puzzled, but concerned.


	4. The Salarian Special Tasks Group

**Thanks for everybody who is reading this!**

_Biotic Wind__  
><em>_Chapter 3__  
><em>_The Salarian Special Tasks Group__  
><em>  
>'N, Mordin has requested you.' the AI announced over the Normandy's speakers. The girl being called after opened her eyes. Hazy images formed across the youth's vision.<br>_TSTSBET01. _  
>It followed her wherever she looked. Eventually the numerals and letters faded and all that she could see was a metal wall. She got up out of her curled position and made her way to the elevator. The man in the lab coat looked at her. She blinked her eyes and he was no longer there. She muttered some explanation to herself and selected her floor. She waited, tapping her foot. The lift doors opened and she thought she saw the tail of a lab coat leaving her field of vision. She rushed out and looked right. Nothing there but Kelly, probably sending a flirty message to Shepard. She rubbed her eyes, then proceeded to the lab. Mordin was there, hunched over an omni tool. He didn't look up as he greeted her.<br>' N. I was expecting you.'  
>The girl put her hands on her hips. '' You called me.''<br>Mordin breathed in. ' Just a test.' He closed down his omni tool and turned to face her.  
>' I have something to show you. Follow me.' He walked by her and up to the airlock. She tagged along curiously. ' What is it?'<br>' You don't think that Shepard recruited me just because I was smart, do you? I worked with Salarian Special Tasks Group. Cannot give exact location, I'm afraid, but it doesn't matter. I think you will be impressed enough.'  
>He opened the airlock and walked down the short corridor. It sloped downwards, then came to a stop at the exit. Mordin passed his hand over the sensor, then waited as the door groaned and then opened up agonisingly slowly. Daylight filled the corridor, and they stepped outside. Directly in front of them was a mammoth warehouse. It stretched on for hundreds of metres, then tunneled into a cliff. N looked around her. They were near the shore of an island. The small waves lapped at the sand, and the shoreline went on for quite some length until sharply turning behind the cliff. Mordin stood beside her, looking at the rusted structure with remembrance and... was that sadness N spotted? She tapped him on the shoulder and he shook his head, before taking a small chip out of his pocket and inserting it into what appeared to be a tiny shadow on the wall of the building. The huge steel door slid up, and floodlights bathed the musty warehouse in brilliant white light. It was one huge assault course, with hologram projectors stationed everywhere. A tinny voice emitted from a micro-speaker a few feet away from them.<p>

''Please identify.' It sounded like grated metal.

' Doctor Mordin Solus, Unit 4 Lokyanza.'

'' You are cleared for entry.' They were 20 steps into the building. Mordin brushed his hand over a dusty metal barricade. The years of dirt came away to reveal an emblem. The STG. Mordin knelt there for a moment, letting the memories wash over him.

'' Pistol or SMG?' he asked spontaneously.''

' 'What?''

'' Pistol or SMG? Which would you prefer in combat?''

'' Uhhh...' N did eeny miny meeny mo in her head. ''Pistol. No SMG. No...'

Mordin threw an Assualt Rifle at her. She was caught surprised, then juggled the weapon in her hands nervously, before dropping it to the ground. It smashed her feet. She hopped around clutching her injured toes for a minute, then looked up to her companion, who, to her horror, was activating the hologram assault course. He turned to her, then gestured for her to come to the start. The noise from the generator at the back of the facility was audible from where they were standing. Blurry mechs loaded up all around her. She turned to Mordin.

''Do I have to level up or, do it in the fastest time or...'

The mechs started firing.

The next few hours went by in a noisy, sweaty blur for N. They passed in scribbled notes for Mordin. More than once he had stopped to admire how naturally capable she was at dealing with the training course. He was certain that she would be able to handle the ending. By the time she finally completed it, after fighting her way up and then back down the carefully constructed assualt course, she was a wreck. Her hair hung down in stringy, sweaty strips, her clothes were black and her hands were shaking.

'' Very well done. Now for wave two.'' Mordin said to her brightly. Her face went blank, then she turned around and ripped the projectors from their stands. When she spun around again a wide smile spread across her face.

Mordin hesitated a moment. ''I was only joking.'' he said, slightly nervously.

''Now for the completion of the test.'' Mordin announced once they were outside in the crisp evening air. The beach was considerably smaller than at low tide.

' 'The STG is trying to cover it's tracks all across the Galaxy. Contacting old squad members who may leak information and buying their silence, getting rid of all unneccessary facilities,' Mordin turned. ' Like this one. You've proven yourself in combat, but we don't know exactly how powerful your biotics are. I want you to tear this warehouse down, and block the cliff side with the rubble.'

N stared at him like he had just told her that her heart was a grenade. Then a few sparks played across her eyes. Then more. And more.

''You might want to stand back.'' she warned Mordin as she focused her power. The scientist obliged.

It started with loose patches of dirt falling into the sand, then grew into groans from the support beams. Without warning, the roof collapsed along the whole front half of the building. Then the girl drew her hands in, closed her eyes, and let an unholy amount of what seemed to be fixed earthquakes along the centre of the training facility. Plates of metal went flying into the ocean of the mystery planet, where they would rust even further and provide homes for the water-dwelling creatures of the sea. The ground itself buckled and grew in irregular bumps along the island, sparks flew from the barges, and the warehouse crumbled to dust in moments. N let her hands drop to her sides for a few seconds, then started to run. She sped up incredibly fast, forming a biotic field in a large area around her, which drove what was left of the STG base up to the cliff side. She reached to wall of rock, then completely obliterated most of the limestone and all of the course. She was about to make her way back to the Normandy, when a huge boulder crashed into the space two metres beside her, kicking up a plume of sand that turned the surrounding area to a smokescreen. N stepped out of it, then was forced to conjure up all her might to stop the onslaught of rock from crushing her underfoot. The enormous chunks of the cliff bounced off an invisible wall, completely covering the ashes of the training base. When she was absolutely certain that no smaller debris would pelt her in the head. She made her back to where the Normandy was stationed. Completely unscathed.

''Not bad for a 14 year old, huh?'' she shouted out to the ship.

_CntxTstSbjt01._ She was getting tired of these letters.

**The Normandy will land on N if you don't favourite. :)**


	5. Opinion Matters

Biotic Wind.

Chapter 4.

Opinion Matters.

**I don't own anything except a computer now go and read the story!**

N decided to explore the Normandy and meet the crew along the way. She had seen them all in the debriefing room, but she had no idea what they were like. Except Miranda. That bitch. Getting up out of her meditative position, she blinked the letters from her eyes.

_CntixTSTSbjct01_

She stepped into the lift. When it opened she stumbled out into the woods.

_The sirens were w__hining. The red alarm lights peirced the darkness beyond the treeline. She looked behind her, heard the dozens of footsteps all coming after her. All coming after her. She listened intently while she darted past the white trees. She heard something else. Too rapid to be Human or Turian. She heard the viscous growls of the attack dogs, starved, their savage body's howling out for meat. She tripped over a tree root that poked out of the ground like her bone did out of her arm. She got a few more steps after pushing herself to her feet, then collapsed, hitting her head against a blunt rock. The last thing she remembered was being dragged along the muddy ground back to the..._

...Normandy hit the Mass Relay, propelling it through space. N looked up from where she had collapsed on the floor. Mordin rushed over to her, as did the bearded man in the lab coat. Except he didn't. He moved towards her, but he did not run, or walk, or crawl, or jump, or skip, or hop. He simply drew closer and closer to her, or was it her who was moving towards him? She tried to squirm, tried to do _something_, but her body woudn't obey her. Then the mysterious figure, stood, turned, and walked through the solid wall, sparks falling off him as he first entered, and then disappeared into the steel. Mordin waved his hand into her field of vision.

''Expected this might happen,'' he muttered. ''That much power, could be too much for her to handle.''

He pulled her to her feet.

''Did you experience any hallucinations?'' he asked as soon as she was standng.

She stared at the wall for a few moments before shaking herself out of it.

''I think. It wasn't much though.'' she replied.

''Do not worry. The Element Zero on your eyes, phantom images may imprint themselves onto some of the strands during times of stress. I'm researching ways to extract them without doing harm or causing rapid regeneration of contaminated cells. You should rest for a few days. Explore the ship.''

She forced a smile. ''That's what I was going to do.''

She waved away a medic trying to inject a green liquid into her body and strolled towards the armoury where Jacob was stationed. He closed down the schematics for the new weapons he was constantly working on and shook her hand.

''Can I just say,'' he said as they both leaned against a table, ''that I'm not going to run away from you. You're a sweet girl, and if you did hurt any of us, I'd put it down to accident.''

She felt some of the pain going away from the bruise on her forehead.

''That really means a lot. Everybody is scared of me. The crew won't talk to me. They just want me to go away.''

Jacob's face hardened.

''They can go to hell. You're the sweetest girl I've ever met, and I wish I could do more to help you. But Cerberus are just bastards. I appreciate that they get the job done, but the Alliance had some heart, even if they were beuracratic idiots. Cerberus probably just want to use you as a weapon. You're 14! You should be flirting with boys, having sleepovers, having friends!'' His hate of the position she was stuck in was clear. Her voice got softer.

''I would count you as a friend.'' They both went silent for a moment.

''I should get back to work. The Illusive Man can still fire me, regardless of my opinion.''

He turned and got back to his work. As she was walking past him, she whispered a ''Thank you'' into his ear, before trotting out to the elevator. She closed her eyes as soon as the doors closed. That guy in the lab coat was just freaky. When the lift opened up at the crew deck, she walked into Thane's arid room. He was sitting at the table as always, living his past in the present.

''N. How are you?''

_Amazing, _she thought._ He knew I was there without seeing me._

''Hi Thane. Just exploring the ship. Meeting everyone.''

''You shouldn't be.'' he said in that gravelly tone.

She was very surprised.''What?'' she exclaimed.

''You shouldn't even be on the Normandy. You are not a killer. You are a child. You will be killed, without living your life fully. Run from this path, because once you begin, you won't be able to turn away, lest the path should end and you plod on.''

N steeled her voice.

''I choose what I want to do with my life. You think that I'm just going to turn away from these strange creatures and wonderful planets? Living on some shithole like Omega for the rest of my life instead of exploring the galaxy? No thank you. Adventure and excitement? Bring it on.''

''Your life is your own. You can live it or waste it like me.'' Thane responded after a pause.

He was suddenly clutching her wrists. His eyes were watering and his hands were shaking.

''Don't waste it. Like I did.

His hold grew stronger.

''I have lost all those who I loved.'' His voice was shaking. ''And it was my fault. You don't know what it is like to have that plague on your soul. Pray that you never will!''

His grip loosened. He stepped back, then sat back down. He shut his eyes and closed his fists in front of his face. She looked at the back of his head, not sure what to do. She backed away slowly and into the corridor. When her back reached the cold wall, she let herself fall against it, thinking of Thane's words. When she was able to push them to the back of her mind she straightened up and made her way to the mess hall. As she was passing Rupurt she heard him nervously apologising for trying to leave when she had sat down with Shepard. She paid no heed, instead jumping up the steps and down the long corridor to where Garrus was forever performing diagnostics on the Normandy's armaments. But instead of seeing him hunched over a hologram, he was sitting down, eyes closed, on a crate. He didn't seem to notice the doors opening.

''Hey Garrus!'' she called out. The turian jumped slightly and immediately stood up.

''Sorry,'' he said, his voice distant, ''I finally tied up a loose end. One that I had been hunting for a year. So, how are you doing?''

She shrugged. ''Okay I guess. Collapsed out of the elevator and hallucinated in the CIC. Other than that, fine.''

Garrus winced. ''Oof. Hope you're alright.'' He leaned back, accidently activating the omni tool mounted on the pedestal with his backside. An alarm went off, and a red light revolved around the room.

''Ahh crap! This might take a while. Oh for the love of Floyjerrth, this is going to take hours to re-calibrate. You can run along, tell Shepard that this just went off by itself. I didn't turn it on with my ass or anything.''

N turned and left Garrus to what would be hours of frustration. She passed by Miranda's room without so much as a glance at the bitch's palace, instead skipping into the elevator and selecting the fourth floor. When the doors opened she turned to the cargo hold to converse with the most viscous Krogan ever grown in a tank. When she stepped into the room Grunt greeted her with a shotgun in her face. She flexed her hands and lifted Grunt into the air while restricting his movement. She snatched his shotgun and pointed it square at his head.

''That was a good one Grunt! Really didn't expect it!''

Grunt laughed inside his stasis field. ''And well done for trapping me! I can see why Shepard keeps you around.''

N let him down gently, handing him back his shotgun.

''When will you fail? I am the perfect Krogan and I'm always being beaten by a 14 year old! Keep your guard up, girl. And I saw the destruction of the training facility. Magnificent destruction. Well done!''

N nodded then jogged out, wondering where Grunt would try to get the better of her next. One time he had jumped down from the ceiling and smashed his head on the ground where N had been standing half a second previously. N made her way down the short flight of stairs to Jack .

''Okay, I'm not gonna piss my pants or jump ship just because your standing there.'' Jack greeted her charmingly.

''Shepard's told me about your charm and sophistication and good heartedness.'' N replied cheerily. She sat down on the table across from her.

''I also know that we're both outcasts because of our abilities, that people are afraid of us, that no one loves us. Come on. You act hard, but I know that your reeling inside. Because I know what it's like. We're not completly the same, but we do share a lot. So don't try to scare me off. Because I won't go.''

This small clutter of words got to Jack.

''Just fuck off!'' she said while the tears were streaming down her face. N complied, sliding off the table. But instead of leaving, she sat down beside the escaped convict.

''I'm going to come down here every while. We can talk. If they don't go away, I want to talk about something. And you are still strong. The past is just an anchor weighing you down. Try and rip the chain off.''

She got up and ascended the stairs. When she was lying down in her bed, she thought of what Thane had said to her. Was this the life she wanted?

_Shit happens and we get caught up in it._ she thought as she drifted into a sleep filled with crying Krogan in lab coats sticking her with needles.

_**DUN DUN DUN DEVELOPMENTS!**_


	6. Biotic Fire

Biotic Wind  
>Chapter 5<p>

Biotic Fire

N didn't know much about what this first real mission was, except that it was simple enough and that it was on Illium. N smiled to herself as she gazed out the window at the gigantic skyscrapers zipping past the Normandy. Illium. The lost city of Troy. Except this wasn't ruin.  
><em>But it probably will be as soon as we land.<em> Her headache was making her very cheerful.  
>The Normandy slowed down as it docked with a tower bustling with activity. N tried to look on the bright side of being a marine. The airlock opened before she could think of anything. Sighing she trotted through the gate way. She was stopped by Mordin, carrying a rather clumsy looking belt.<br>''Wait.'' he panted. Salarians. Fast thinkers, fast talkers, fast livers, not so fast runners. ''I thought your armour and gear may be wearing you down.''  
>He was right. The armour weighed her down like<br>_Her Past._  
>N shook herself. It took quite some effort to do so, considering the wall of bricks she was wearing.<br>''This is a moonbelt'' Mordin said fondly. ''Designed it myself. It will maintain a small anomaly in the gravity for as long as you wear it, reducing your weight to one fifth of the planet's norm. Should come in handy.''  
>He stepped over to her, clipping the apparatus around her waist. She floated to the ceiling immediately. Mordin twisted a vial and she dropped down, albeit slower than what she should have.<br>''Sorry, I was testing it on a mech.''  
>N did a small jog on the spot. It took some help from her Biotics to get to normal speed, but nothing that draining. She turned to Mordin satisfied.<br>''How exactly does it work?''

Mordin hesitated.  
>''Some of your power is required to operate it. Cannot simply conjure an anomaly in a set space. Needs an existing anomaly.''<br>N's eyes widened.  
>''So there is a singularity going on constantly and I'm in the middle of it? I've created singularity's that suck everything into it and don't give them back! How do I know I'm not gonna create a hole in space and take the universe in with me?''<br>A smile spread across the Salarian's face.  
>''Should be interesting seeing it in the field.''<br>Before N could respond the airlock dropped down in front of her, separating them and leaving her frustrated. Her headache grew stronger.

That Volus was lying. N knew it. There was something about him, just the way he played innocent way too hard. N could think about this more when they had disposed of those mercenaries. They were only two corners away from the police and they still didn't send reinforcements. No matter. They would be mush in a few seconds. Well, if they could sneak by them... no. It was a narrow corridor and in full light. N took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the cover. It might be a bit hard to convince them she was just a scared little girl considering she had two guns strapped to her back. She wasted no time, instead lifting them all into the air. The mechs snapped in half, showering the hall with sparks. The humanoids were flung into the concrete. Half of them stayed there. The others flopped down to the floor. N made sure they landed on their heads. The next firefight couldn't be called a firefight. Instead, the floors below theirs ran red, green and purple with various groups of blood. The crew didn't even have to fire any shots. The mercenaries shouldn't have.

Samara had killed that defenceless mercenary and Shepard didn't even comment about it. She stared at the asari's twisted body, wondering who her family was, what she wanted to be apart from an Eclipse recruit. And they were recruiting that cold killer. She wouldn't come by wherever she would be staying.

Mordin's voice came tinny over her speaker. The roar of the gunship and the great winds it blew up disoriented her.  
>''Rotate your arms rapidly! Use your Biotics!'' Mordin commanded. N struggled to find the reason in this.<br>''What? Why?''  
>''Just do as I say!'' he said urgently It was difficult to manoeuvre her limbs from her crouching position without getting her arm sliced off by the hail of projectiles. She spun her arms in a wide circle, accelerating as she continued. The revolutions grew faster and faster, trails of blue and purple creeping in them, until the space in front of her was nothing more than a blur of power. Eventually N felt it. The friction in between her hands. She spun even faster, and then out of nowhere, a spark flew out of the blur. Then more and more. A small flame flickered in the centre of the whirlwind. The flame grew bigger, hotter, brighter, until a ball of flames floated in the air. Shepard almost forgot to give covering fire for the squad. N's face burned as she tried to hold the flames away from her unprotected face. Eventually she stood and turned towards the airbound chunk of metal. Any slugs were caught in the biotic wind and exploded in the centre, expanding the fire. N gritted her teeth and hurled the rolling ball at the gunship. It hit the cockpit dead centre, engulfing the pilot. She screamed as the raging fires engulfed the whole ship. She tried to get out of her chair, but as soon as she stood one of the engines gave out, driving the aircraft into the side of a building. Her head was smashed hard against a broken armour plate. A sharp rod of metal penetrated the flesh at her hip. Before her brain could register the fatal injury, another turbine exploded, driving her and the spike through the side of the gunship. Parts of it went tumbling with them, falling through the evening sky. Anyone could mistake them as a trick of the eye. Not the huge shape hurtling down beside them, though.<p>

Shepard stood, dumbstruck. He walked over slowly to N. She looked at her hands with an even greater sense of power and amazement. Instead of responding to the crew's compliments, she sprinted to edge of the building, examined the scene briefly, then jumped. Shepard darted to where she had leaped off, and there she was, a blaze of light in the sky.

The wind tore at her cheeks, threatening to tear her face off completely. She focused on the aircraft, and the buildings growing larger and larger below her. She straightened her body and twisted the moonbelt. The sudden increase in pressure almost made her throw up, but she was spiralling faster and faster to her target. Eventually she bypassed the tumbling chunk of steel, and let the pressure around her return to normal. She raised her hands and shot a pulse at the air above her. The gunship groaned. She grunted, then let a continuous stream of biotics above and below her. She slowed down, as did the ship, until she could make out people in the buildings to each side of her. The ground sped closer and closer, until a larger skyscraper zoomed past them like a stalagmite jutting up from a cave's floor. They were only falling by about three metres a second now. Other buildings rushed up to meet her, forcing her to manoeuvre into narrower and narrower side-streets. Unlike the gleaming and huge spaces at the top of the city-planet, these were nothing more than slums. The structures were grimy and ramshackle, the citizens wore rags and lay down in filth, the vehicles may as well have been made from wood and the dark was overwhelming. She alighted in a small side-alley and compacted the wreck into a neat cube, before tossing it into a corner. Then she closed her eyes, collapsed, and fell into a dreamless sleep.


	7. Slum Dog

**Two chapters in one day. Amazing, I know.**

Biotic Wind  
>Chapter 6<br>Slum Dog  
><em><strong>You are reading this, so I guess that's good. It won't be so good if you are unable to read disturbing scenes.<strong>_  
>When N woke a sickening throb in time with her heartbeat drilled a tattoo into her forehead.<br>_''I have to stop going crazy with the biotics'' _she thought to herself. She got up wearily. Wondering why her bunker was damp, she opened her eyes and saw the filth she was lying in. She jumped up, then tried to find a dry area. There were none, and the murky water went up to her ankles. She looked up and down the alley. Behind her there was a brick wall, and to her front the passageway opened up into a grimy street. Above her a dome not unlike the Pantheon acted as a massive ceiling for the all the buildings, with small gaps at the edges where huge walls towered up into the ever-purple sky. She stepped out of the grimy alley to find herself in a narrow street bathed with a sickly green glow. A man, trying to lap drops into his mouth by the side of the cracked road gave up and lay his head against the wet ground. A Batarian shot a family walking down the street, then retreated and leaned against a wall as if the horrific incident had never happened. Their blood mingled with the sewage water and flowed into the open mouth of the man in ragged clothes. N surveyed this scene and almost vomited. A child was in the family, about three. His eyes were wide and half his face was missing. N stood over the man at the drain.

''Thank you...'' he rasped in a voice starved of breath.

''Most people... walk right by me... as if I... I don't exist.'' He carried the last syllable on for what seemed an eternity, before coughing once and collapsing on the ground again. His breath came painful and slow, until it grew calmer and calmer. He exhaled heavily before his eyes lolled back and his chest stopped moving. N ran down the street, looking for a way out. She jumped over several corpses or people that looked like corpses, her boots throwing up splashes on the ground. Huge swarms of rodents ran through her legs, some attempting to climb to her face. She crushed them all with a biotic force that rivalled the pressure at the centre of the Earth. Except the Earth was in the universe, and this couldn't be real. Her nightmares couldn't compare to one of the scenes you chose from the terrible scene. Human skin resembling rotten fruit. Corpses decomposing in the middle of the street. Numerous objects being thrown out of windows, including excretions and people. They all twirled around her, before seeping into her mind and burning themselves into her brain, images that would haunt her forever. A shaft of dim light escaped through an open door. She rushed in and slammed it behind her, not caring about whatever was in the building. She would regret not doing that. Dozens of strips of rotting meat were piled on top of one another untidily. It took N a moment to realise that they were skeletons. The skulls were split open and their bodies were twisted into inhuman poses. Tiny dots of grey were visible on the walls were the blood hadn't showered the hall. This time she did throw up, and the scent of bile attracted a horde of the strange rodents. They fought over the pool of putrid liquid, before all turning towards the hunk of fresh meat standing in the doorway. They backed away slowly, heads lowered before a choir of snarls filled the small enclosure. N beat them back with biotics before jumping over the animals and up the stairwell. She vaulted over the railings at each level to try to enlarge the distance between her and the creatures until, after 7 flights, she came to a steel door. It looked impenetrable, but reason be damned she smashed through the door meant to withstand a rocket attack. She did a quick 180 and launched a fireball she had been building all the way up into the savage swarm. The flames licked at their hair, engulfing each one in a boiling inferno. The plague of fire spread throughout the building, and when on the rooftop N could see the true grime of the lower city, for it was a city, a city of evil, of grief, of death, of misery, of death and of secrecy that stretched on for as far as the eye could see. Entire high-rise buildings crumbled to dust while she was standing there, like a giant's ruined plaything, one that he was not satisfied with, and had to destroy in order to repair. Suddenly, the makeshift structure she was standing on shifted slightly, and without warning, began to topple slowly into the side of the building on the opposite side of the street. She darted over to the edge of the building and leaped, the shockwave from the impact of the two buildings adding a violent push that sent her tumbling but enabled her to make the jump. She rolled a few times before coming to a stop at a fire escape. It would have been useful, had not the whole area been engulfed in flames spread by the rodents. The smoke and dust made it impossible for her to see her cut hand in front of her. She darted over to the edge of the rooftop to survey the ground. It was as if the nauseous water itself was flammable, as everything was covered by a blanket from the depths of Infernia. People were trying to pat down the flames or extinguish them by rolling in the contaminated mud. That half of the structures were wood or supported by creaking beams of wood wasn't helping either. The shanty streets were levelling one by one, and violently. Plumes of dust fired up into the air. Many residents were crushed under falling chunks of steel, metal, concrete and flaming timber. N desperately searched for a way out. The buildings were collapsing one by one in a gigantic domino effect, spreading the fire even further. N suddenly realised that she had caused this. All this death, destruction, it was all her fault. She blinked back the tears that were welling up, each flutter of her eyelid causing searing pain. The whole secret lower city was being destroyed and there was nothing she could do about it. She turned away from the terrible scene and ran back to where the skyscrapers were based. As she was approaching the huge wall a hand dragged her and spun her around. A man wearing a torn hoodie was pointing the barrel of a primed shotgun at her face. Behind him were gathered half a dozen more dressed like him. A woman was standing at the rear as well, holding an antique gunpowder rifle in trembling hands.

''You did this!'' exclaimed the hooded young man. ''You upper bitch!'' Spittle flew from his mouth as he talked. ''You think that you're better than us! That you can treat us like dirt! Well here's a message to the Asari shitheads!''

N closed her eyes and whispered.

''I'm so sorry.''

The words had barely left her mouth when their necks twisted gruesomely and their spines were shattered. The hooded head rolled off the side of the rooftop, joining the chaos below. Light brown bones stuck out from the tops of heads and from shoulder blades. The woman started sobbing and dropped the weapon to the ground. Burying her face in her hands, she screamed as a rat ate its way right through her back, through her stomach and emerged in a bloody hole. N seized him and twisted his head off, before rushing to the skyscraper. She looked along the wall, looking for an exit. Eventually she found one, behind stacked up furniture. A transport shuttle was blocking the way as well. N flung it and the furniture off the rooftops and smashed open the titanium barricade. Inside was a small elevator shaft. The lift required working machinery, and this was falling apart. It was extremely old-fashioned as well. Instead of the standard hover mechanisms, there was a pulley system. N burst open the rusted doors, snapped one of the cables and shot upwards at an incredible speed, leaving thousands to perish below her.

**_Hmm, thought it didn't deserve the M rating, ay?_**


	8. Vendris Zone

Biotic Wind  
>Chapter 7<br>Vendris Zone  
><strong>Apologies for the late upload. School, homework and just talking with my fellow writers have taken up a lot of time. Hopefully the posts will be back on track after this.<strong>  
>The lift journey took a huge amount of time, which gave N time to reflect on the horrors she had just witnessed. The area was so large and crammed with so many inhabitants that it couldn't be a secret, unless it was a very well kept secret. The rulers of Illium would definitely have noticed the city of ruin when they were constructing the towers. The gang member had referred to her as one of the <em>uppers,<em> who thought themselves more important than the residents of the lower levels. She had not heard of any Asari speak of or make any reference to the sprawl of death, so only people in positions of the highest power knew of its existence. N resolved to investigate when she returned to the Normandy. The rusted lift clunked to a halt suddenly, the sound echoing around the shaft like a ghost's whisper. When the elevator showed no sign of continuing on, N raised the zig-zag metal gate and peered around at her surroundings. The chute was lit by spotlights at long intervals. The nearest one was just a few feet above her and on the opposite wall. N examined the distance between her and the light, and then gazed at the pit below her. She cursed herself for being stupid enough to try this, then did a small jog on the spot to warm her up. If she could do it without plummeting hundreds of metres to her death, she might be able to leap, latch on to the spotlight, and jump back to the top of the elevator to see if she could do anything to start the lift again. She breathed in deeply, jumped out the metal cage, and got shot in the shoulder. Yelling in agony, she grasped the rusty light with one hand and launched herself backwards. An armour clad sniper was furiously trying to reload his weapon when he was slammed into the wall behind him. N clutched her injured shoulder and stepped into the well lit corridor. The walls were stark white and contrasted starkly with the grimy shaft she had just come up. There was a sign on the wall to her right, pointing to the chute she had just exited, labelled ''VENDRIS ZONE. KEEP QUARANTINED.''

Just then, a dozen laser sights were pointed at N's face. The bearers of the guns wore grey armour and helmets that concealed their faces. Each one had two circular eye holes, which glowed eerily blue. Despite the immense pain she was in, N couldn't resist a wise-crack before she ended all of their lives.

''I bet you all wanted to be astronauts or firemen when you were kids. Trust me, you should have followed your dreams.''

Half of them flew through the sides of the hallway, the others started firing at an impenetrable Biotic field. With their minds so focused on keeping a finger down on the trigger, it was very simple to get all of them to shoot their own heads off with their own weapons. She didn't even have to raise a finger. When they had all been dealt with, she focused on her shoulder. The hand she had used to cover it was bloody. There was a large dent in her armour where the slug had impacted. Concentrating all her power on that one spot, she felt her skin stretching over the hole. He had used explosive ammunition, so she didn't have to worry about re-arranging her insides to squeeze the bullet out. The healing took a lot out of her, and she felt instantly dizzy. She tried her com-link, but there was no way the simple transmitter could penetrate the floors and floors of the complex. All that came out was static. She looked both ways down the corridor. To the left was an electric field. To the right was an impenetrable door. She sighed and blasted the steel door into the wall beside it. Blood came splattering out from behind the door. ''Whoops.''

A soldier came over to investigate. The blue eye holes gleamed in the gloominess inside the room. Because of the numerous monitors around the dark enclosure, N guessed that it was an operations room. That meant that there shouldn't be too many armed people in there. The trooper investigating the mess swivelled his head in her direction. He took one look at her and then tossed a very large grenade. N raised her hands and a shield came up, protecting her and funnelling the explosion towards the unfortunate soldier. The flames had a peculiar blue tinge to them, but the fire went out before she could study it further. There were no remains at all of the owner of the grenade. She stumbled through the door and surveyed the room. It was spinning, but N decided that was just her. People in lab coats cowered behind desks. The dim blue light blinded her. She walked over to the nearest person and tried to clear her head.

''Give me...answers...'' she managed to mumble. The grown man actually cried. A smile twitched at her lips. She moved on, knowing she couldn't get anything out of him. There was an Asari who wasn't breaking down at the end of the expansive bunker. In fact, she seemed to try to be avoiding her, but not like she was terrified. She approached her from behind, then coughed loudly. She spun around.

''What is going on down here?'' N asked. Strength was returning to her with every word. ''Who are you working for? Are you Cerberus?''

The Asari shifted un-easily.

''My contract requires me to keep the identity of my employer's secret.'' N sighed. It was always protocol.

''What's your name then?''

''What? My name? It's Rana Thonoptis.''

''Well, Rana, you know what I can do. And I am going to batter you into a messy pulp unless you tell me what the hell your doing down here and why the hell no-one knows about all those people crammed into that horror town.'' N announced cheerfully.

''I have a non-disclosure agreement. If I were to disobey it...''

''You are going to be in a lot of pain whether you tell me what I want to know or you don't. At least_ I'll_ make sure that you have a quick death. I don't think your bosses will be so kind, considering they're hiding that atrocity down there. Now, are you going to tell me?''

That's when Rana ran. N tossed the moonbelt over the Asari's head right after flicking the setting up to maximum. Feeding a stream of Biotics into it ensured that she floated quickly up to the ceiling. The extreme sudden change in gravity made her throw up. The sick drifted out of her mouth, floating in the air for a few moments, then fell to the floor. N seized the opportunity to gloat.

''You really thought I was _that_ stupid? You were eyeing the exit the whole time I was talking!'' N glanced at the door.

_Speaking of exits..._

She tossed Ms. Thonaptis against a wall, knocking her out cold, then took the moonbelt and slipped it on her. Then she walked towards the door.


End file.
